The hallmark of a good acoustic music show is its intimacy, a feeling of being in a living room among friends. As this week’s CT Folk at Home show with the Meadows Brothers attested, CT Folk has managed to cut out the middleman and bring folk artists directly to the living rooms of the world — as the organization also plots to bring this concert series and the CT Folk Festival and Green Expo, traditionally held Labor Day weekend, online.
Tuesday’s livestream, a part of the new CT Folk at Home series, certainly fit the bill of intimacy. Dustin and Ian Meadows, sitting comfortably against a fireplace, felt like natural extensions of any living room of the mind, and the casual, informal air of the performance conjured visions of a beanbag chair just off camera, or perhaps a cozy couch.
“This is pretty much the first live streaming event we’ve done in the last couple months,” remarked Dustin, smiling as he squinted at the screen lighting up with Facebook comments. “We hope everyone’s having a relaxing night.”
The First CT Folk at Home show was May 12 with Shawn Taylor; the series occurs twice a month at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays.
Hailing from as far away as Australia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia, the Facebook commentariat was gleeful, appreciative of the buttery harmonies that the Meadows Brothers baked up, and well versed in their catalogue, calling out requests constantly.
The set itself ranged from stomping blues tunes that seemed to find their genesis in the musical primordial soup whence LIghtnin’ Hopkins came, all growl and chopped chords, to sweet ballads that featured the harmonies that only siblings seem to provide to each other. The atmosphere was informal, with new songs premiered and the occasional lyrical snafu, but it added all the more charm to the performance. The Facebook livestream had a few glitches, ultimately cutting short the encore — John Prine’s “Spanish Pipedream” (“blow up your TV” made literal, perhaps). Ultimately, though, the medium didn’t matter; the message was more than well-received all the same.
CT Folk had taken time before pivoting to digital to take stock and learn, explained Nicole Heriot-Mikula, director of the much-beloved annual CT Folk Festival and Green Expo.
“When this happened, it’s such a heavy hit to humanity, and every single community, and we at CT Folk look at this as a very sobering time for us to build community, but music is one of the best ways to do that.” To this end, CT Folk will be bringing back Folk Fridays once a month, starting June 5 with David Jacobs-Strain.
Heriot-Mikula was also delighted to announce that the 2020 CT Folk Fest would be pivoting to a digital format, for the weekend after Labor Day.
“I’m so excited!” she said. “This year’s fest is moving forward with a virtual platform, and we are committed to bringing you a multi-day, multi-evening event — and we are committed to bringing it to the public in the same way we have for years, a suggested-donation-only event.” The Green Expo. in what would be its 15th year, may also be able to go virtual. Heriot-Mikula remains grounded in the overarching mission of CT Folk, even in the midst of a pandemic.
“We knew that it was our responsibility to stick around — and even play a small role within our community and music scene. Half of our mission is not just to entertain, but also to educate and inspire and build conversation around sustainable community.”
Working now to find the new, final shape of the digital CT Folk Festival, Heriot-Mikula remains focused on the silver linings of this strange time.
“This moment has allowed so many organizations, so many musicians and artists to reach across geographical borders,” she said. “I’d like to see this format stick around.”
Musicians will always be a priority, receiving a guaranteed payment in addition to a percentage of donations and proceeds. “We respect our musicians and stand by them and support them, and do what we can to lift them up and help them as they help us.”
That said, there is always the longing we all feel in the pandemic, for a chance to come together in a space without fear of sickness. “I really hope there will come a day soon when we can gather again and enjoy CT Folk Fest in gorgeous Edgerton Park,” said Heriot-Mikula. We all do — but in the meantime, the living room will do.
White people are psyched for this.